A massive brawl erupted between governing and opposition lawmakers in the main chamber of the legislature in Taipei yesterday over legislative reforms.
President-elect William Lai (賴清德) is to be inaugurated on Monday, but his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in the legislature and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been working with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to promote their mutual ideas.
The opposition parties said the legislative reforms would enable better oversight of the Executive Yuan, including a proposal to criminalize officials who are deemed to make false statements in the legislature.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“The DPP does not want this to be passed as they have always been used to monopolizing power,” said KMT Legislator Jessica Chen (陳玉珍), wearing a military-style helmet.
The DPP said the KMT and the TPP are improperly trying to force through the proposals without the customary consultation process in what it called “an unconstitutional abuse of power.”
“Why are we opposed? We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country,” DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
When the session started yesterday morning, there was pushing and shoving as KMT lawmakers formed defensive walls at the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), enabling him to preside over the process for raising motions, reading bills and proceed to a vote.
Even before votes started to be cast, some lawmakers screamed at and shoved each other outside the legislative chamber, before the action moved into the chamber itself.
In chaotic scenes, lawmakers surged around the speaker’s podium, some leaping over tables and pulling colleagues to the floor.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
During the physical altercations, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) at one point pulled out a flute and played the national anthem, while Chen blocked the entrance to the podium area and shouted: “I’ll take on 10 of you.”
DPP Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) protested being “physically handled” by Chen and described the altercation “as being bitten by a beast.”
During a recess at about 3pm, DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) snatched documents from Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Chester Chou (周萬來) and ran out of the chamber.
KMT lawmakers demanded that Kuo return the documents and explain himself, while DPP lawmakers claimed Hsu attempted to strangle Wang with a DPP party flag.
Kuo later told reporters that his actions were “justified” as the opposition parties “have been increasingly violent,” adding that the contents of the files he obtained could not be made public.
The differences between the governing and the opposition lawmakers could not be reconciled despite multiple cross-caucus negotiations headed by Han.
With a majority, the opposition at 5:32pm voted to extend the legislative session.
At about 7pm, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and fellow DPP lawmakers again tried to force their way up the podium and occupy the speaker’s seat, but failed.
At 8pm, five lawmakers — Shen, Chung, DPP legislators Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) and Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), and KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) — were taken to hospital.
As of press time last night, the legislative session was still ongoing.
The KMT holds 52 seats in the 113-seat legislature, while the TPP has eight and the DPP has 51. There are also two independent lawmakers who are ideologically aligned with the KMT.
Additional reporting by CNA
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would